Long story short

hey i use to work for autozone... and i had same problem come up with a costumer i had. these stores CAN return "Defected" part... but cannot pay for any damages it might cause. they cannot tell if it was due to your negligence or the part itself. so the most they can do is return part and give you another one. watch for "limited lifetime warranties" play on words there...

i say return part (if you didnt buy in store) you might have to pay for shipping back to them. gl either way.